Preserves Online: Find Craft Beer

Friday 20 July 2012

Find Craft Beer

He was visiting a friend in Belgium when he discovered the complex Belgian styles of beer that he likened to the wines of Italy. It was this experience that provided the spark for Brooks to start researching the history and styles of beer. He also began to research and perform homebrewing around the time a craft beer movement was afoot in Rome. He loved the idea of making his own beer in a place that did not have too many styles of beer available at the time. Being part of the passion and innovation of the grassroots movement was another motivating factor for Brooks. Outside of the unfulfilling job he had at that time, Brooks devoted much of his time and money to improving his knowledge and skills on the craft.It was at this job that he took vacation time to do an internship at a brewery named Birra Del Borgo. He described the internship as the greatest time of his life. A short while after returning to work Brooks was offered a position at Birra del Borgo. He lept at the opportunity. As part of the training in the brewery, Brooks also worked at a beer bar. Brooks shared that this was a particularly great experience as it helped him connect the behind-the-scenes work at the brewery with the front-of-house goal of understanding the customer. He was at Birra Del Borgo just a short time when he was offered the position to brew for the Eataly / Baladin / Del Borgo / Dogfish Head Brewery collaboration in New York City.